to get at one job barack obama's rather than focusing on american jobs. >> i'm going to lose my job if i don't end the conversation here. we'll get kevin back to address the jell-o comment on another night. we'll check in -- erin burnett out front starts right now. and we're on the frontline in mexico where authorities first learned of the plot to assassinate the saudi arabian ambassad ambassador. the ambassador for nearly five years. confident of the king, we know him. the bottom line on the two iranian men arrested in connection with the plot. one of them a u.s. citizen. appeared in a federal courthouse today. let's go out front. i'm erin burnett. out front a major terror plot on u.s. soil foiled.

a senior administration official tells me this was international murder for hire. here's what we've been told. two men charged in an alleged plot to assassinate the saudi arabian ambassador to the united states. one is a naturalized u.s. citizen in custody and identified as 56-year-old mondaysor ar bab si ar. he appeared in a courthouse this afternoon. he did not enter a plea. according to the complaint that we read, he planned for someone to kill the saudi arabian ambassador at one of his favorite restaurants in washington, d.c. he told an informant that mass casualties didn't matter, saying, "if the hundred go with him, expletive, them." the plot itself is a work of intrigue. it began this spring when he met in mexico with a d.e.a. informant posing as a member of a violent drug cartel. over the next few months, he got

the informant to agree to assassinate the ambassador for a fee o$1.5 million. he also wanted an attack on the -- with help from mexican government, he was arrested at new york's jfk airport on september 29th. he confessed. now,u.s. officials have been talking throughout the day saying that what is perhaps most important here is the direct link that could exist to the iranian government to the highest levels. apparently, his cousin was a big general in the iranian military. essentially a foreign special forces division. it could go to the top of the iranian government. he also gave officials and the fbi a lot of other information. peter king is on the inside of this. he's the chair of the homeland security committee in the house. congressman king, thanks so much for being with us tonight. it is an amazing story no matter how you look at this. when did you learn about it?

>> actually, i just learned this morning. the fbi contacted me under the law they dealt with the intelligence committee, i believe the chairman and ranking member of the intelligence committee. i was briefed on it this morning. you're right, this is to me it's really historic in a terrible sense of the word. the iranians are have crossed a red line. if this had been carried out, an act of murder by a foreign government on our soil of a foreign diplomat. this would have been an act of war. this really goes beyond anything that i'm aware of that's happened before. certainly something as flagrant and this notorious and raised this whole, to me, the relationship between the you state and iran. a precipitous level. >> i want to ask you, congressman king, diane feinstein telling kate bolduan a few moments ago, i'm reading off my black ber, it's surmising on her part, before a country goes after an ambassador in a third country like this, that they would have had the acceptance of the government, i don't see how

this could be done any other way. what is your information or sense here of how high this does go in the iranian government? >> well, again, i just surmising also. but i also know that chairman rogers, the intelligence committee, he basically has the same as senator feinstein. that's mine as well. you could not have planned something of this magnitude without the very top levels of the iranian government knowing it. the supreme leader or the president. this is such -- again, this violates all international law. basically, you're talking about an act of war. i think we have to -- the united states has to consider taking significant action. i don't think sanctions alone are enough. i think we should consider actually deporting or removing the iranian officials at the u.n., the staff at the u.n. also the iranian intersection in waurg ton. we can't allow this to go

without a strong reaction, otherwise we're en encouraging them and others to realize it's open season here in the united states. we can't allow that. >> from the complaint that the government has filed here, that the quote that they have, giving to an informant is "they want the ambassador killed. if a hundred go with him, expletive them." that clearly indicates they were willing to have massivelyian casualties. >> absolutely. it's bad enough to go after any ambassador. but also to run the risk and not care about killing hundreds of americans, innocent people, again, this is an act of war. if it had been carried out. they were plotting an act of war to me. i think we have to avoid. i agree with governor cain. it's one thing when it's international and al qaeda and evil, a government which has an army, an armed forces which has people in charge. for them to take or contemplate

and plan an action such as this, we have to have a strong response. >> chairman king, i am april little confused because obviously, sanctions. the u.s. imposed more financial sanctions today. that was a part of what they did. from the statements we have very careful to make a point, there's been no shift in ships or anything in the persian glufl. why is it, given what you're saying that we seem to be explicitly backing off the military side? >> well, i don't want to be getting out in front of the president. i'm saying that i would what action the president wishes to take as commander in chief. i think we should certainly consider some at least signs of military activity by us. you know, movement of troops or carries whatever. something to indicate how seriously we're taking this. as i said, another measure we could take also would be to remove from the country the iranian officials at the u.n. and washington. that would sent send a strong

signal. i agree, we should not be, i don't think, automatically saying we're not going to have a military action. everything should be kept on the table when you're talking about a potential attack against the united states. an act of war. >> let me ask you what this means in temps of the next steps here. vis-a-vis iran's nuclear program. it seems at least in terms of the media or discussion to be on the back burner. is this something now that we should become more aggressive on? >> again, without going into details, people at various levels of the government, high levels of the government are concerned about the iranian nuclear program. and this maybe would prompt more so. but i believe that we are very concerned about it. that's really as far as i'll go. but i -- we cannot ignore the reality of that. there are the people in our government and in other governments know how serious it is and i'll leave it at that. >> all right. thank you very much, chairman king. we appreciate you're taking the

time. giving us all that information. thanks again. >>er rip, thank you very much. >> good to see you, sir. the u.s. citizen arrested says his cousin is a general in the military. iran has said allegations of its involvement is a fabrication. we'll get to the bottom of that and what america can do to retaliate. we'll let you know about the alleged target of the plot, the ambassador at the center. and what defense secretary leon panetta told us about the ongoing threat of homegrown terror. ♪ [ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] ...because i don't think we're going anywhere for a while.

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robert mueller described the alleged plot cooked up by iran to kill the saudi arabian ambassador to the united states. they say it's made up and this is the quote cnn received from the iranian government. "this is a child's story. from our perspective, this is a fabrication." former assistant secretary of state from the clinton administration joins us now. cnn national security contributor and former adviser to president bush is with us. we want to start with a

fundamental question of whether senior government official this is iran knew what was going on. i know there's complexity here. the government says no. iran expert came out front earlier. here's what he said. >> iran gains nothing and certainly can't afford open confrontation with the united states. so the accusation that this alleged plot can be traced directly to the highest levels of iran's government i think deserves a good bit of skepticism. >> what do you think, jamie. doesn't go to the top, iran gains nothing? >> i think one shouldn't be skeptical the way reez a says. this high level special forces group has been responsible for terrorist attacks in iraq against u.s. forces. back against u.s. forces in saudi arabia in 1995. the same group from the irgs, the revolutionary guards wouldn't take such a dramatic step of what peter king called a

potential act of war without assuming they had the approval at the top. so i would switch the burden of proof in this case not to be skeptical about it, but to assume the supreme leader would have in some way authorized his people to continue this covert war against saudi arabia through this method and crazy scheme involving the dea informant. >> what about the revolutionary guards, i know the numbers are all over. we've done reports between 30 and 80% of the economy is controlled by them. that's a big range. you can get numbers all over the map. the first thing the u.s. has done, fran, is to come out and increase sanctions. we already had a lot of sanctions. is that the best we can come up with? >> well, i think you also heard secretary clinton in her statement indicate that they're going to the u.n. security council. they've not called an emergency meetings. they're briefing allies and

saying they're going to support the u.s. investigation. they'll support the imposition of sanctions. the real question at the security council is russia and china. will the facts of this case be enough to be more aggressive and support sanctions against iran? >> jamie, china is a big problem here. the biggest buyer of iranian crude oil. the foreign currency as well. is this enough to get them on board? >> i any if these set of facts are demonstrated, if additional intelligence is provided to russia and china, they would have to acknowledge that not only is this a state sponsorship of terrorism but against another party, saudi arabia, who both of these countries want to be on the right side of. saudi arabia is the largest provider of oil in the world. this attack is directly on the king's closest adviser, adel al jubeir very close to king abdul a. it will put the countries in the

uncomfortable position of having to choose between iran and saudi arabia. my guess is if the saudis are as angry as they should be, they should be able to convince china and russia to do more than they have up to now. >> why do you think, fran, the saudi -- they have put out a brief statement but not with a formal response yet. why the delay, do you think? >> i do think, look, we understand that this was a plot uncovered by the united states. that the saudis have been in the receiving mode, president obama's national security adviser visited king and briefed him on this. they have kept the saudis up to speed on the investigation. for the moment, the saudis are -- to make public the details of the case and begin the international action against them and the saudis. it's typical. it's sort of characteristic of their foreign policy to sit back, see how the coalition is forming and then weigh in one they have a better sense of the support for it. >> it is amazing to force china to pick between saudi arabia and

iran would be. incredible if the united states could force that to happen. >> the battle going on publicly, privately, covertly in the religious sphere between iran and saudi arabia has been going on for a very long time. this, i would argue, is a substantial escalation of that war for influence and power in the greater middle east area. because it's so personal, because it involves the assassination of the close adviser to the king, i think it will change something dramatic and iran will be on the back foot, on the nuclear issue, on the terrorism issue and if, for example, they were to support another attack on the united states forces in iraq through some equipment, i think that would increase now the chances that the united states being forced to respond militarily to iran. >> final word on that. forced to respond militarily. can we? we've got defense cuts, we've got several fronts already. do we have the forces and the

ability to do that? the government made it clear, we're not shifting ships. not moving anyone in the persian gulf. if we needed to? >> there's been planning for an eventuality. yes, there will be great challenges but you had would be sure the department of defense over the last decade has made contingency plans. that's right. >> thanks so much. appreciate both of you being with us. jamie, fran. >> great to see you in person. >> still out front, cnn's national security analyst, peter bergen gives us more details about the man at the center of this. the alleged target of the plot. and mexico's role. this is amazing when you read through the documents. this is where it gets like a spy novel. one of the most vicious, dangerous violent cartels in mexico involved. we have that story. ♪ give your customers the added feeling of security

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now more on the target of the alleged assassination plot. adel al jubeir. we know the ambassador. he graduated from the university of north texas in 1982. he got a masters from georgetown he's not a royal but is a confidant of the saudi king abdullah. he served as ambassador to washington for nearly five years. my impression of him, very pro american. very erudite and casual, especially in contrast with other saudi officials. helpful to journalists and

actually for those of you who think of some of the issues like women driving or women's inability to drive there, very pro-woman, understanding of those issues and how big of a p.r. issue they are for saudi arabia. in short, an easy guy to talk to. cnn's national security analyst peter bergen knows him well. what's your impression of the ambassador? >> reporter: well, i think a lot of the things that you said are accurate, erin. i can't claim to know him extremely well. about as well as several hundred other people in washington. he ises a extremely intelligent, well-informed guy who is -- in the united states. probably spent more of his adult life in the united states than any other country at this point. he is very close to king abdullah. in 2005 for the first

counterterrorism conference that saudi arabia had. fran was there representing the united states. it was very clear when you attended the conference that adel al jubeir was telling the crown prince at the time who the guests were, what they did, really kind of guiding him through the basically the people attending the conference. one thing, erin, that struck me in the indictment. if you read it, it refers to a restaurant in washington where it was suppose today happen. senators were going to be there, 100 to 150 people killed potentially. i think that corresponds -- i've met ambassadors on a number of occasions in the past. so the universe of restaurants in washington where somebody like this would go routinely and correspond pend to the indictment really does suggest it was cafe milan in georgetown. >> for those, peter, just tuning in, read to them out of the

complaint. the words used when talking about killing as you said possibly a hundred casualties from. if the hundred go with him, expletive, them. that was obviously an indication of how little they cared about casualties. can i ask you, peter, why you think the saudi government has not come out with a more detailed or formal response. just the short statement that the ambassador released? >> i mean, that is routine for the saudis. this is often that they aren't -- as fran indicated earlier, if they don't quite know what the right response is or haven't formulated one, this is not a government that is routinely making available statements to journalists. sometimes you'll see something come out of the ministry of the interior, which is the most important ministry in the country in terms of national security. but these are pretty infrequent. this is not a government that is routinely giving press conferences. so they'll bide their time and wait and produce a fuller statement when i think more

facts are known. >> you said it diplomatically. to say the least. peter bergen, thank you very much. we appreciate it. again, peter is reporting or sense is that a possible location for the restaurant which was not named in the complaint could have been cafe milano in georgetown. coming up, the former governor of new jersey and the chairman of the 9/11 commission, tom keen, joins us. i'll ask him if he's surprised by this attack and if he expects more in the future. then senator robert menendez. when did he know about the threat and how will it affect america's relationship with rival iran? manssor arbabsiar, a natural-sized american citizen. the homefront out front. slow r. continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal. ♪

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we continue to follow the breaking news of a foiled terror plot on american soil. but now tonight's out front five. five other stories making news today. first, the u.s. senate defeated president obama's $447 billion jobs plan, which included the millionaire's surtax. all republican senators voted against along with two democrats, ben nelson of nebraska chester from montana. the vote though not official, he won't arrive until 9:00 tonight for the vote. even with her expected yes, the final tally will be 51-48 shy of the 60 need today pass.

number two, an israeli soldier who spent more than five years in captivity close to being released. benjamin net i can't hugh says he might be release north dakota a couple of days. in exchange for the release, 1,000 palestinian prisoners will be lee. kansas city firefighters searched the backyard well in the search for erwin. police say they found no sign of the baby after receiving an anonymous tip leading them to the backyard of a vacant home. baby lisa was born 11 months ago today and was last seen october 3rd. mitt romney picking up a major endorsement from chris christie. it was overshadowed by the terror attack news. but the new jersey governor says he's the best prepared candidate to beat president obama. number 5, it has been 67 days since the u.s. lost top credit rating. what are we doing to get it back?

now, international murder for hire. that's how a senior administration official described to me the plan to assassinate the saudi arabian ambassador to the united states by an iranian american. tim keen heads the commission -- he's the former new jersey governor. great to have you with us governor keen. let me ask you that question. i know the u.s. officials have been working on this for a few months. does an attack of this nature which seems out of a spy novel, full of intrigue, does it surprise you? >> it totally surprised me. it's uncharacteristic of them. the idea of assassinating somebody using criminal money, drug money from mexico to actually do an assassination in this nation's capitol, that's close to an act of war. you don't go in somebody else's capitol and blow up anybody. >> that's -- >> it's a tremendous risk. >> i wanted to ask you about that. eric holder, the attorney general, has stopped from fully implicating the highest levels

of the iranian government, but others like diane feinstein says she doesn't see any other way it could have happened. if the highest levels of the rye iranian government were involved, we would have to go with military action, wouldn't we? >> we got to find out first what happened. you know the iranian government is not autonomous. there's a high ayatollah and then the leader and a bunch of other people. they're not all together. whether this is done by a faction in the iranian government without the knowledge of the rest of the government. it just seems so strange. i mean, there are -- they're known as professionals in the intelligence world. we don't like what they do. but they're known as professionals. the idea that they would attempt something like this, use huge amounts of money brought in from criminal activity in mexico to try and assassinate somebody in the nation's capitol is crazy. it makes no sense to me and i don't understand it. >> so where do we go from here

do you think, governor kean? especially since you've looked into the terrorist threats. if this is out of left field, what is next? >> it's very different from the other. the other threats we've been investigating come from al qaeda, come from unorganized terrorists and ungoverned parts of the world. this seems to be attached to a government. the government is making the plot. the sgoft trying to assassinate a leader of another government in our nation's capitol. that's what makes so extraordinary. it shows the tensions i guess, between the moderate arabs, like saudi arabia and the radicals in iran. that's a tension that we always knew was great, but we didn't think it would spill over into assassinations, particularly in our own country. >> it is astonishing. thank you so much governor kean. we appreciate you tabing the time. >> thank you. governor kean using the word astonishing and extraordinary. lets bring in senator robert me

then dez. a member of the committee on foreign relations. appreciate talking to you again. would you agree this is an extraordinary event? >> it is. by the same token, this is why i have targeted iran and the iranian revolutionary guard in the division that was supposedly trying to carry this out. in the sanctions legislation that is law and in the new sanctions legislation that i've sponsored that has 76 bipartisan sponsors in the united states senate to consolidate our sanctions law. because the iranians are known to export terrorism and they're in a regional fight from sunni controlled saudi arabia versus shiite controlled iran and so -- in that sphere of influence, they see saudi arabia as a major challenge to them. think of the mack vallianism of taking out the saudi ambassador

here in the united states and the conflict in the first instance that might have created for the united states in that part of the arab world. so i think it's an amazing plot but nonetheless, the iranians have shown propensity to exploit terrorism. how fully have you been briefed at this point, senator? >> we've had a series of briefings but largely in the public sphere, we've asked for the intelligence briefings that follow on here from both justice an the other entities to get a full sense of what's happened. i have to commend the law enforcement intelligence agencies here because in essence, we prevented what would have been a plot that was unfolding from ever actually being anywhere near from taking place. but obviously, there was a desire. the iranian revolutionary guard is at the highest levels of the iranian government. they operate so much of iran's not only military elements but also its economic elements. for them to be involved here

clearly shows that this was in the highest levels. >> let me ask you, peter king was describing this if it is at the highest level as an act of war, would you agree with that assessment and if so, does it mean that military action needs to be on the table. >> obviously, this was interceded. i'm not sure that we're talking about a full engagement act of war. what it does allow us to do is two things immediately. go into the united nationss and getting the chinese and others to engage in the full enforcement of the sanctions that the u.n. has passed against iran. against the nuclear weapon desires and secondly, it should be moving our legislation now in the congress so that we can get -- close the loopholes that exist in the sanctions legislation and tighten the noose. >> i know you and i have worked on that in prior stories about the loopholes which are amazing that they still exist. let me just ask you this. do you think that this is

possible, jimmy rubin was bringing this up. china the biggest provider of foreign currency and driving their economy, could this force china to pick between two huge crude oil suppliers, saudi arabia and iran and end up isolating iran. >> it's a tremendous opportunity for the united states an the world to create that type of pressure. i think it's a great opportunity for the saudis who were clearly the first instance of who was going to be attacked -- to be part of making that case as well. i think we have an opportunity here to change the dynamics and close those back door channels that have been opened to iran, particularly in refined petroleum products that they need and their financial institutions as well. >> senator menendez, thank you for being with us. we appreciate it. working to close some of the legislation that allows for loopholes for american companies sub erries which work in iran

and a proponent of curtailment of iran's nuclear program. lets bring in the senior legal analyst for cnn. jeff, it was interesting to me looking at the complaint. which i know you read through every word of it. not the first time we've seen the u.s. government make significant allegations in terror-related case, take them to trial. 2006, attempt to ploe up the sears tower in chicago, the alleged underwear bomber trial, which they say is a slam-dunk. is this -- >> there's one big part of the case we haven't discussed and that's the use of the confidential informant. footnote one says this confidential informant is an accused drug dealer who is currently awaiting some sort of trial in the united states. we don't know. but he was paid by the drug enforcement administration and is our agent. if this goes to trial, and we're certainly a long way from that. you can be sure that this defendant's lawyer is going to say, this whole thing was cooked up by this guy to work off a

beef. that is a part of this case. obviously, they're taped. money changed hands. but you can be here it's a big part. >> this is part of what makes it a spy novel. it is bizarre, it would seem looking at this -- why wouldn't you, if you were going to do this, why go through a mexican drug cartel and try pay them to come to washington and do it for you. it seems derivative, doesn't it? >> it's odd. but crime is odd. people behave oddly. if you want to do something criminal and dangerous, why not involve a mexican drug cartel? the other part of the case, came up in the sears tower case, which you mentioned in terrorism cases, you never want to wait too late because then the terrorist act could take place. if you do it too early, as happened in the sears tower, the case never comes together and the jury doesn't believe that there ever was a serious plan to start with. that's an issue that will probably get played out at trial as well. >> especially if it wasn't far

enough to say what the exact restaurant was. we don't have the full details laid out. >> the money you can be sure that they're going to put this in the confidential informant. they're going to say he was profiting. it was his idea. he was the one who was trying to get rich, not the iranian government had knot nothing to do with it this. >> what does it say if the fee, the apparently, it costs 1.5 billion d. there were $200,000 wired. we need a downpayment. the money came immediately. is that helping make the case that you have sign off from high in. >> enormously. that's a huge advantage for the government here. that says, the worry that you have in a case like this is it's just talk. people blowing smoke, promising things you can't deliver. once you have an actual transfer of a significant amount of money, that shows much more that this was a real thing. remember, there's that other defendant, this is a two-defendant case. there's the other defendant in iran, he's never coming back.

that guy is never -- he's never going to show up and get fingerprinted in the southern district of new york. >> most likely not. >> it's another irritant in relations that they are harboring a fugitive. >> jeff tubin, appreciate it as always. let's check in with john king. >> hello to you. more breaking news ahead. exclusive to 360, how elements of the iranian government were -- to kill the saudi ambassador using explosives. he just said on your show that all options should be on the table. we'll ask our panel what that means. the politics of a tightening race of a presidential nomination. herman cain under attack from a number of african-american leaders for his comments about race. mitt romney challenging him on the attacks on the mormon

faith. the in-depth week of bullying in our schools. the roots of bullying, that's coming up at the top of the hour. john king, we'll look forward to that. monday sar arbabsiar. a 56-year-old naturalized citizen. threats against america by a homegrown person. the role mexico played in bringing the plot to light. we'll talk about it more. we'll be back.

we do this at the same time every night. we're reaching out to sources around the world. first to the middle east. the center of the story tonight. saudi arabia expressing appreciation to the u.s. for stopping the plot to kill its ambassador. mohammed, how does this help u.s. saudi relations? >> erin, this is important because the u.s. saudi relationship has deteriorated lately. the key alliance is still strong but the saudis have been upset with the obama administration ever since it distanced itself from former egyptian president hosni mubarak. the saudi family is felt threatened by the up rising of the arab spring. with the saudis showing how grateful they are to the u.s. actions, that helps to repair damage to the relationship moving forward. >> mohammed, thank you. next to iran, an aide to iran's

president denying that the country was involved in the plot to kill the saudi ambassador. we're in islamabad pakistan. reza. what else did they have to say? >> erin, it's a children's story. that's what the spokesperson for iran president mahmoud ahmadinejad is calling the allegations by the u.s. justice department against iran. the iranian's president's office saying it's a fabrication by washington to distract the american public from domestic problems like unemployment. a strong almost mocking denial from iran. it's important to remember these are purely allegations coming from washington. no one has been convicted. even so the allegations are sure to ratchet tensions between washington. many u.s. officials talking about slapping iran with tougher sanctions. erin. >> now to detroit where a nigerian terrorism suspect went on trial for his alleged involvement in a plan to blow up a plane on christmas day in

2009. we're in detroit. deb, what happened in court today? >> erin, the accused underwear bomber looked comfortable and in control. at one point he was surrounded by the lawyer, the judge and prosecutors. they gave opening statements saying he traveled to yemen where he was recruited in a mosque. he agreed to carry a bomb on board a plane. the condition that he target a u.s. passenger jet and explode the device over u.s. airspace. prosecutors describe how he purified himself before igniting the device. the passenger next to him, exclaiming, hey dude, your pants are on fire. erin? deb, thank you very much. now, we are joined on the phone by mr. mohammed ka sdplie, the permanent representative -- obviously, we have seen the i n

iraniira iranian government's statement saying they weren't involved. what more can you tell us? >> caller: thank you. actually, although we are used to hear basis allegations against my country by some u.s. officials but to be honest with you i was so shocked to hear such a big lie, if i may say. therefore, to answer your question, not because big lie is being fabricated right before our eyes but i think also because the i don't know how to put it. this hollywood script have been so blatant. common sense of every people even in united states. accusing iran of plotting to murder an ambassador from the

islamic neighboring country in washington actually is poisoning by some and one politician is -- very experienced in fabricating security threats to terrorize the public in order to advance the political agenda and to quench the thirst for inventing enemies. we should not forget iraqi war on what actually happened in iran, in iraq based on those allegations in that country as well. >> sir, can i ask you -- >> sorry? >> i just wanted to ask you about the names, though. because one thing here in the complaint from the u.s. government was not just manssor arbabsiar but also goholam

shakuri who is a member of the revolutionary guard corps. is that so? >> i don't know the exact name, but my point is that the whole issue is a provocation against iran. the issue is not the name of some people that was, you know, that were accused or that was publicized by the media. in my view and in my government's view, it is the most absurd thing ever to implicate iran in an assassination plot in the united states. therefore, i have to make the statement that we strongly reject in shameless accusation and warn the american public to be vigilant about such vicious campaigns which are definitely aimed at furthering political pressure against my country. here's the main point. >> thank you very much for calling in and making your point, given the iranian take on the story, mr. mohammed khazahee which is the permanent representative to the unit in

new york. we appreciate it. we'll have more on the terror plot after the break. hey, it's sandra -- from accounting. peter. i can see that you're busy... but you were gonna help us crunch the numbers for accounts receivable today. i mean i know that this is important. well, both are important. let's be clear. they are but this is important too. [ man ] the receivables. [ male announcer ] michelin knows it's better for xerox to help manage their finance processing. so they can focus on keeping the world moving. with xerox, you're ready for real business.

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spoiled plot another example of the threat of home grown terror. manssor arbabsiar is a naturalized citizen. he lives in round rock, texas. again and again we've seen plots against the homeland by one of our own or living among us.

major nadal haasen a soldier in the ft. hood murder killed 13 at a military base in texas. faisal shahzad who spent a dozen years in this country radicalized after traveling to pakistan. my interview with leon panetta last week he told me his biggest worry was a lone wolf at home. >> the one that worries me the most in my prior job as director of the cia was the lone individual in this country who is here and suddenly becomes self-radicalized and suddenly goes out, as we saw with the ft. hood individual, he suddenly pulls a gun and starts killing people. >> seth jones is a counterterrorism expert who has worked for special u.s. operations now a senior political analyst with iran, juan zirate is director for combating terrorism with the bush administration. seth, let me start with you.

why this now it seems again and again every case is home grown or naturalized. >> well, i think one of the things that's changed over the last several years is the ability of a range of terror groups overseas to get their messages out on to the internet, to use mediums like youtube, twitter, myspace, to help radicalize individuals where they don't always need to go overseas to conduct training but they can radicalize based on downloading lectures by individuals like anwar al awlaki over the internet. >> how can we combat it? because what defense secretary panetta was telling me the problem essentially seems to be we can't. >> the first thing i would do is distinguish between the sunni extremist threat that we've seen in a lot of these individuals have been radicalized and what this case seems to suggest which is a bit more like an espionage case. we have to have countermessages

on the internet, and i think one of the reasons that groups outside of the u.s. are trying to recruit u.s. citizens or to enlist them is they're having a harder and harder time actually getting in. so that's what makes american operatives all the more attractive. >> seth, so what is your take on what the biggest risks are? i understand juan making a clear distinction on this case with its role with the iranian factions as opposed to those other cases. >> well, i think the biggest risk we've seen is an individual like naji bull azazi. he has access to a legitimate american passport where he can come and conduct attacks. one of the things that's been disturbing over the last several years is the unwillingness of a range of muslim communities to actually out these individuals. i mean, with the zazi case, he was preparing suicide attacks in the new york city subway, he boiled the hydrogen peroxide in the house of his uncle he

watched jihadi videos and nobody reported it. this clearly shows a lack of trust between a part of the community and law enforcement and government officials. >> juan, final word to you, if you can respond to that point. >> i think the trust has gotten better and better over time. i think you've seen, especially after the ft. hood shootings, a number of individuals, imams speaking out against not just violent extremism here but voices like anwar al awlaki. we've got a problem here with a state sponsored act potentially as alleged. the ability of an american to actually organize a fairly sophisticated attack, that to me is a worrisome trend. and the ability to do that, whether on behalf of a state or behalf of an ideology, that's problematic. >> thanks very much to both of you. really appreciate you taking the time. >> thanks, erin. tomorrow we're going to get personal with michele bachmann. questions and answers we want to get for you on "out t.